Yachtsman dies in Cardiff Today

[graham]

I have just seen on local HTV news One yachtsman has died and another in hospital after their tender capsized while rowing to their boat at Cardiff YC.

Apparently both were wearing lifejackets .

 

[lockwood]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4414081.stm

All details are a bit sketchy at the moment, although they say the men were pulled from the water at 1pm.

 

[Gunfleet]

Poor old things. It's easily done. Trouble is, as we all know, the water is bloody cold and bloody dangerous this time of year.

 

[graham]

easy to forget on a sunny afternoon . March is the coldest water temp in the UK .It lags behind the air temp a few months .

On a sea survival course I saw a film of Sharon Davis and Duncan Goodhew at the peak of their careers trying to swim in water at winter sea temperature.Within 5 minutes they were so uncoordinated they had to be rescued out of the pool.I cant remember much else of the course but seeing that brought the message home to me.

 

[Gunfleet]

<<I cant remember much else of the course>>
Don't tell me, you were BigNick's crew and hungover!

 

[BlueSkyNick]

erm... pots and kettles come to mind at this point.

Keeping to the seriousness of this subject, I don't want to judge the situation, knowing nothing of the facts of somebody's very sad loss. However, generally speaking, wearing a life jacket is one thing, wearing it properly can often be quite a different matter.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Wearing lifejacket properly

And I bet it would make absolutely no difference, it's the hypothermia which will almost certainly have got them. A tragic accident.

 

[BrendanS]

Re: Wearing lifejacket properly

Peeps used to laugh at me and Happy1 for suggesting that we went out in drysuits with big fleece undergarments on occassion. Not a moment for dwelling on the past, but that sort of safety advice was perhaps misunderstood,

 

[tcm]

Re: Wearing lifejacket properly

hey, no prob with H1 or you..... but it was your high heels that really got everyone going, be honest, hm? Or was that the (ahem) "Miss Understanding" ?.....

 

[Das_Boot]

Re: Wearing lifejacket properly

It is the shock wat does it. The massive constriction of blood vessels close to the surface etc. A life jacket is only usefull in keeping your head above water when you lose conciousness. Most people will be able to stay afloat without one for longer than it will take for the cold to kill you. So it does not realy help in the long term. It will however save your life in the short term while you regain your bearings. Dont fall in is the best thing.

My dog has fallen in twice now and on both occasions I had to rescue him. He was unable to stay on the surface because the shock paralysed him. I however did not make the mistake of jumping in myself to save him but lay down on the pontoon and with the top half of my body submerged reached in and after many attempts managed to grab him. By this time my hands were so cold I could hardly grip his harness. On both occasions he was coughing foam afterwards due to breathing in water.

Cold water is no joke.